The Underwater Adventures of a Blind Mutant
by Kiliro
Summary: The name says it all for the first chapter, the rest is slightly more complicated: Know it involves sight, Miami, and OCs... Changed to a bit of Romance. Sorry, I'm amazingly bad with summaries. Iggy's POV!
1. Blue, Black, and Bye!

**OK, so I don't know why I got this idea, it just came. I hope you enjoy... **

**This story is from Iggy's point of view, so Iggy fans, I hope you're happy!**

**This is a oneshot, though if people ask, I might make it something more... It just felt like a good place to end, though. You tell me! Review!**

**Oh, and I almost forgot... Do you think I own Maximum Ride? Do I look like James Patterson to you? Let alone a man? No? Then, there you have it! (Needless to say that this is a disclaimer.)**

**-K**

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**Blue, Black, and Bye!**

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Today was another_ great_ day! _Not._

I mean, ever since the entire flock, even _Total_, developed gills, they've been going out every single day, discovering the fun-filled underwater world.

It's awesome! I mean, it's awesome for _them._ _I _have to stay all by myself while _they _have all their water-filled adventures without me.

Of course, it wouldn't hurt half as much as it does if they _actually _felt bad for leaving me on the beach every morning. Needless to say, they _don't. _Or, at least, they don't have enough energy left at the end of the day to feel any twinge of guilt.

Instead, they just show up every night, say 'hi', then run to the dinner that none other than, you guessed it, _I _have prepared for them. Then, they just ignore me until it's time for breakfast, which I have _also _prepared, where I get much of the same treatment.

Because, how _else _would they treat the blind kid? He's just the cook, right? He's not like _us... He _doesn't have raptor vision and gills, something _any _normal bird kid should have! Notice the _heavy _sarcasm in this sentence, and you'll be able to calculate _just _the right amount of bitterness I'm feeling.

After that, they leave, and then take everything I said and repeat it to know what happens.

Two weeks of that, and in _all _that time, Gazzy noticed me _once. _

_---Flashback---_

_I was sitting in the shadows of the trees and being quiet, as usual, when suddenly, Gazzy approached me._

_He said, _

_"Hey, Ig, what's up?"_

_I was so surprised that he had actually started a conversation that it took me a few moments to find my voice, and then I finally stuttered, _

_"Um... Nothing much, I guess. You?"_

_Taking it as his cue to answer, he continued, _

_"Oh, tons! Being underwater is sooo cool! It's so amazing, we have tons of fun, we even found an abandoned shipwreck a little far off the shore and-"_

_I continued listening and nodding at the right times, trying to act as if it interested me and it wasn't hurting my feelings. _

_Truth is, he was hurting me so badly it felt like he was stabbing me in the heart. And the worst part is that he didn't notice. Neither did Angel, for that matter, because she was too busy snuggling with Max and Fang, who occasionally kissed, much to the kids' pleasure. I could tell all of that from the sounds they were making. _

_After a while, Gazzy said he was tired and left me once again. A few seconds later, I heard Max ask me to take first watch, and before I even had time to answer, she snuggled close to Fang and fell asleep. I didn't hear Fang's head move toward me. It was as if I didn't exist._

_That night, I didn't wake anyone up for second watch because I was afraid they would see me in the near-tear state I was currently in._

_And not _once_ during Gazzy's long rant did I hear a word said about missing me or being sorry that I couldn't come. They just didn't have the time to think about me anymore. I was just an insignificant person, an outcast. _

_Isn't my life just _great_?_

_---End of Flashback---_

The flock just had just come back, and now they were eating dinner.

Apparently, they were _especially _tired tonight, so Max asked me if I could take first watch _and _second watch.

I agreed, since there was not much else I could say.

Once they were all asleep, I settled myself in my usual tree and waited as the hours passed by.

After about 2 hours, though, I got incredibly bored, so I went silently to the water.

I walked up knee-deep, and just stayed there, listening to the water all around me.

I'd already tried several times to see if I had any gills yet, but every time I tried, it gave the same result as the first time Gazzy had tried back in the States when we were still on the run. Let's just say that Max just about blew up in anger and disgust every time.

However, this time, as I stayed still in the water, something in my gut told me that I should go deeper into the water.

I hesitated only a moment... _What if the rest of the flock gets attacked while I'm not there? _I quickly shoved the feeling away, however, because it had been months since anyone had attacked us. Besides, they could fend off for themselves. I didn't matter, right?

At that thought, a little loneliness, and a _lot _of anger came back, and I stepped in farther into the ocean.

Once I was in until my chest, I took a deep breath and plunged in.

I went in deeper and deeper, away from the beach as fast as I could go.

Once I was deep enough, I let go of the air I'd been holding and took in a large gulp of water.

Instead of feeling the water move into my lungs and make me choke, I felt as if I was up into the air, but at the same time different.

It took me a few minutes to get used to the breathing, but once I'd learned the trick, it was easy for me to move around like I'd done it all my life.

After what could have been a few minutes or a few hours, I opened my eyes and gasped.

I could see. I remembered the last time I'd gone underwater with Gazzy and Angel when we had the 'super-duper-oxygen-scoopers' when I had been able to kinda see like in Antarctica, but this was a whole different story!

I could actually and completely _see. _After a while of just staying there, trying to understand what was happening, I decided it didn't matter and instead just started enjoying what was ahppening around me.

There were thousands of fishes and underwater plants and stones. It was absolutely beautiful.

I completely understood why the flock adored being under here. It was amazing.

I wanted to stay there forever.

I could finally see, and I felt like I belonged there.

After what seemed like an eternity, I went to the bottom of the sea and lied down. I was more tired than I'd been in weeks, but I still didn't want to go back to a flock that ignored me and used me as a cook and a watch at night.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

When I woke up, the sun was rising, I could see that from the way it all looked different in the sunlight.

I got up, and I suddenly had an idea.

I spread my wings out wide. The flock had never done this. Apparently, Nudge and Angel had tried, but the pressure had forced them in.

However, Iggy had no trouble whatsoever in spreading them open and as far as they could go.

Then, I jumped up, trying to do an up-and-away. It worked way better than I thought it would have, and I half swam, half flew through the water, going as fast as my legs and wings allowed me, which was pretty darn fast.

When the sun was completely up, I went back to the bottom, and started running. Then, I leaped up and flew straight up and out of the water.

I had been reluctant to get out, thinking that my newfound sight would disappear as soon as I left the water, but I was surprised to find out that I could see as much as I had seen underwater.

I was pretty far from the beach, but I could see them clearly, and I could see that they'd seen me coming out of the water.

I flew slowly toward them, and when I landed, they all looked at me with new eyes.

They saw that my wings were wet, they saw that my eyes had found their normal blue color again, and they also saw me glare at them with all the anger and bitterness of the past 2 weeks and months before that.

The first person to say anything was Angel, and she said,

"You can see? And you have gills? And you were able to open your wings underwater?"

I could tell she was getting all that from my thoughts, since I wasn't blocking her out, or keeping anything away from her.

What surprised me, though, was that she couldn't tell what I was feeling from my thoughts, which angered me even more because it meant that she didn't care _at all._

Still glaring, I answered coldly,

"Yes. Why is it such a big deal? I mean, it's not like I mean_ anything _to you guys, so why should you care?"

Gazzy said,

"What do you mean? Of course we care about you!"

"Yeah, _right_. Because, these past few weeks, you've paid a whole lot of attention to me!" I replied, my voice heavily filled with sarcasm.

I looked at all of them, and I couldn't find any trace of remorse in the faces of the people I'd loved for the past 15 years. What did it mean? That they _really _didn't care about me? That they didn't love me? That I had never meant anything to them?

I know the hurt showed on my face, and at that instant it didn't matter.

While I was thinking all that, I looked at Angel, who looked straight back at me. Her eyes were filled with love, yes, but the love wasn't directed at me, I could see that. It was for the rest of the flock, and I was nonexistent to her.

I suddenly understood why she hadn't reacted to any of my thoughts.

The Angel I thought I knew would have broken down in tears by now, saying that it wasn't true, that they all loved me.

But I could tell from her even stare that it wasn't true anymore.

To them, I was long gone already. I was just a piece of furniture, that also happened to cook for them.

"You know what?" I started saying, my voice carefully controlled so as not to let the hurt, rejection, anger and hate show. I also blocked my thoughts so that the Angel that I had loved so much before couldn't hear what I was about to say.

"I've had enough. I'm leaving. That way you won't have to bear me anymore. Goodbye, people... I hope you have a nice life."

With that, I did an up-and-away, flying off towards America and away from my ex-flock.

Not one of them came after me. Not even Gazzy, the one I'd been closest to, my partner in crime.

As I flew away, I felt the tears flow down my cheeks. I let them... It didn't matter anymore.

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**If you liked it, review, if you didn't like it, review anyway. Constructive criticism, praise, and hateful words are all approved and welcomed! It doesn't matter if all you're saying is 'I hate this story, it sucked, I hate you, etc.', just... Review, OK?**

**-K  
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	2. Flight, Florida, Friends, and F words

**This is the second Chappie of Iggy's sad story!**

**Thanks to: Iggy4ever, Madison, KingOfOwls, aLiSOn395, supernerdy and Pixie xx for reviewing!**

** Pixie xx and Revriley for faving!**

** Pixie xx, Revriley and aLiSOn395 for putting on Story Alert!  
**

**Love to all of you! You absolutely made my day(s) and made me want to continue this story!!**

**Enjoy!**

**-K  


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**Flight, Florida, Friends, and other F-words**

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I was on the beach, somewhere in South Florida, Miami, I think.

I had bought a nice swim suit with some of the money I had left from the island, which actually hadn't been deserted at _all._

So, I was soaking up the sun, trying to forget about the Flock. I'd left them about 2 weeks before. And I was still hurt because of how they had treated me. I _still _couldn't believe it. I didn't understand how it had come to be.

After wandering aimlessly upon coming back to the U.S., I'd finally come here.

Anyways, I'd come back from a short swim, and I was lying down in the sand, eyes closed, oblivious to my surroundings, when out of nowhere, a beach ball landed on me, jolting me out of my day dreams.

At first, I didn't see who'd sent the ball, but then, I saw a girl about my age, 15 or 16, running my way. I have to say, she was hot. Like, _really _hot. Not to sound perverted or anything. But you've got to give me a break: I just got my sight back, alright?

She came up to me and said,

"Hi! I'm really sorry, my friend threw the ball a bit too hard. The wind picked it up."

"Don't worry about it," I said as I gave her the ball back.

"Thanks..." she said, and after a pause, she continued, "Um... I was wondering, are you busy right now? 'Cause we need an extra player, otherwise it's kinda boring. Care to join us?"

I was slightly taken aback at her proposal, but when she looked up from her toes directly into my eyes (by this time, I was standing up), I couldn't help but agree.

As we were walking silently towards her friend, I took her appearance in, and I could tell that she was doing the same with me... Was I _that _good-looking? I didn't think so, but I wasn't about to complain.

She was a couple of inches shorter than me, she had long black hair that fell straight to her shoulders, she had striking bright green eyes, and she had curves in all the right places. All in all, she was, as I'd thought initially, hot.

She was wearing a black bikini that went well with her hair and complimented her curves.

We finally got to where her friend was waiting impatiently for us. Or rather, the friend of this girl, whose name I had yet to gather.

"So, what's your name?" she asked. It seemed almost like she'd read my mind.

"Iggy," I said, in a slightly reluctant way. "What's yours?"

"Tally," she said easily.

Her friend was just as hot as Tally, same age as us both, except she had blond hair that went down in slight waves to her shoulders and pale blue eyes. I noticed that, although she had less curves, she moved around more confidently, which made her seem sexier, in her own way.

"I'm Diane. Nice to meet you. Did the ball land on you?" she asked me.

"Yeah... I wasn't paying attention. I'm Iggy, and nice to meet you too," I answered. I knew she hadn't heard my name before, so I repeated it for her.

"Oh... I'm guessing Tally recruited you to play with us? My boyfriend will be here in a minute, it wasn't fun when it was just the two of us, so I called him. He works at the bar over there, but there isn't much business today so he asked if he could come and his boss agreed," she continued, very, _very _quickly.

God, that girl was as much of a motormouth as Nudge. I sighed at the thought, and Tally glanced my way. I shook my head to tell her it wasn't important.

A few seconds after the silent exchange, a guy about 17 came toward us. When he got to us, he swept Diane in a hug and kiss, then looked over at Tally and me and said,

"Hi, Tal, nice to see ya! And, hi stranger! I'm Ryan! Nice to meet you," he said with a bright smile that revealed a neat row of sparkling white teeth.

He had short brown hair, with a chest and arms and legs filled with muscles. He was sorta burly.

Unlike me, since I'm super tall and thin, and although my muscles aren't as enormous as his, you could see them quite well. I had recently discovered that, with my newfound sight...

"Nice to meet you too. My name's Iggy," I said with a chuckle.

He smiled back at me, then looked over at Tally, and it seemed to me that they shared a look, though I'm not sure what the look meant.

"Ok, let's play, shall we?" said Diane after a while of a slightly awkward silence.

"Yes, let's do that," Tally answered.

---

After about an hour and a half of sending the ball this way and that, we'd collapsed on the stools of the counter in the bar where Ryan worked.

Ryan was behind the counter, mixing our drinks: piña colada with very little alcohol.

Delicious, by the way.

Tally and I had become quite close, pairing against the couple during the game. We'd discovered that we had quite a lot of common points, and she was really nice and funny.

We were talking, or actually, the girls were talking and I was listening, when Ryan asked the dreaded question,

"So, Ig, where do you come from? Do you live in Miami?"

"Um... actually, I come from... California."

That was where the School was, I remembered.

"And, no, I don't live in Miami. Actually, I just got here. I'm here for... a while I guess. I need a place to stay, though."

"What about your parents? You came here alone?" Tally asked, worry creeping slowly into her voice.

"Um... Well, my parents aren't exactly... an important part of my life, you know? I sorta grew up without them. Going around the world with my friends?" I said, trying to find a reasonable excuse for being alone in Florida.

"Oh... What happened to them?" Diane asked.

"Well... we grew apart over the years. I left them about two weeks ago."

"Where were you guys?" Ryan asked.

"An island off the West Coast, don't know which one."

"And how did you come here all by yourself? That's at the other end of the States!" Tally asked, truly curious. "You don't seem like you have much money. You couldn't have taken a plane or a bus, right? Or a train, for that matter. And you don't have a car, that's for sure. So... how?"

"Um...", I started, not sure how to explain. I knew the Flock's secret wasn't a secret anymore. Nobody wanted to skin us for their own pleasure, we weren't on the run, the entire world had seen our campaigns against global warming... So, it wasn't a problem to show my wings in public... Right?

"Well... Remember a couple years back, I think about two, when there was the Coalition to Stop the Madness, with the mutant bird kids?"

They all nodded. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I still was that they all knew.

"Yeah, I was addicted to Fang's blog when I was fourteen. Why?" Tally said, and then, when she finally remembered, she gasped.

"You're Iggy! _The _Iggy! But that's not possible! You're supposed to be blind!" Tally whispered excitedly, and then the two others caught up with her and their eyes widened.

"Yeah. I got it back two weeks ago," I said, and then got off my seat, stood a little ways from the bar, checked that I had enough space, and then snapped my wings open, all 16-foot wingspan of them. They weren't as impressive as Fang's 17-feet black ones, but they were still pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.

They all gasped, and people around us gasped too. After a couple of minutes, I snapped them closed and went back to sit with the trio.

Behind me, people were snapping pictures of me, and when Diane started to shout at them, I said,

"Nah, don't worry, I don't care. I'm not on the run anymore, anyways. They can give those to the newspapers, I couldn't care less."

She nodded, but not before giving the tourists a glare.

"So, I guess you could come live with me for a while, if you want. I have my parent's basement. They couldn't care less who I bring there, as long as I don't make too much noise and show up once in a while. We don't even have to enter the house to go in my room. What do you say we go there, and then we can talk more privately, just the four of us?" Ryan said.

"Sure, let's do that," I agreed easily.

While Ryan wrapped things up with his boss and the bar, I became aware that Tally was watching me intently. When I glanced her way and caught her looking though, she blushed and turned away quickly.

I smiled internally. I hadn't known I had that affect on girls. But I stayed serious on the outside, not betraying my thoughts in any way.

Once Ryan was done, we all got up and left the beach towards Ryan's convertible. It was old, I could see, but it still worked very well. It served its purpose, at least.

---

We were all in Ryan's basement. He was seating in the love seat with Diane seated comfortably on his lap, his arm wound tightly around her waist. They made a cute couple.

I was sitting on the couch, Tally seated next to me.

All, in all, the place was nice. There was a king size bed, and the couch made another bed, which was all I could ask for. There was a mini fridge and bookshelves, along with the love seat, a table, a desk, and a dresser. There was a tiny bathroom attached to the room.

Ryan said,

"Why don't you tell us what happened to make you leave the Flock."

At first, I hesitated, not sure if I wanted to relive it all, but then I decided that I had to tell the truth if I wanted to be friends with them. I owed them _at least _that, for a place to crash and a nice afternoon.

So I told them the story, beginning with how we'd gotten to the island, when the Flock had already started to ignore me. Then, the discovery that they all had gills, and the 2 lonely weeks after that. After that, the amazing night where I'd found out about the gills and gotten my sight back. I admitted that I still didn't know how it had happened. I hadn't stopped to wonder about it for long, but now, it made me curious. Finally, the two weeks of wandering around, going everywhere from Washington (the State) to Washington, D.C. (the city), and finally coming here to Miami, all more or less in a daze.

"And then, I met Tally, and you guys know the rest," I finished. I took a large gulp of water. All that talking had made me _really _thirsty.

They all looked at me, their gazes filled with sympathy, concern, pity, love, and-

Wait, _love? _That one was coming specifically from Tally. But it wasn't in her gaze... It was just coming off in waves off of her.

Along with all the other emotions she was feeling.

Then, I looked at Diane and Ryan, and felt their emotions too.

"I think I just developed a new power."

Immediately, I felt curiosity and eagerness coming from all of them.

"What is it?" Diane asked excitedly, almost squealing with glee.

"I think... no, I _know _I can feel people's emotions. It's so cool!" I said, immediately feeling the surprise coming from all of them, and a bit of embarrassment coming from Tally. She thought I knew about her love for me... Which I did. But I wasn't about to say anything about it, not until I knew them more, and actually _felt _anything for her.

So, I ignored their emotions and yawned.

"Can we eat something? I'm starving, you know, 'cause I need to eat a lot and I haven't eaten in a while. And then I'll crash. Might as well take advantage of the bed. I don't get those often enough."

"Sure, let me go order pizzas. How many for you, and what flavor?"

"One will be enough. Big, though. Can you make it cheese and mushrooms?" I said, and added, "Thanks," when he nodded.

"The usual for you guys?" he said, directing the question at the girls.

They nodded, and he went to the phone.

He came back a few minutes later, finding the three of us fighting over which movie to watch.

They wanted to watch The Notebook, but I wanted to watch something that wasn't a chick flick, but Ryan said,

"Come on, Ig! It shouldn't matter to you, you just got your sight back! If you ask me, you should be enjoying every single thing there is to see, like... I don't know, look at the phone! It's nice! And the girls right here, they're pretty too!"

Laughing, I added,

"Um, Ry, I don't think you're complimenting the girls by comparing them to a pretty phone. Basically, by saying 'too', you're saying that they're as beautiful as that old and ugly phone of yours... Anything to say in your defense?"

He looked at me with a look that gave off how much fun he was having with this, when Diane swatted him on the head and said,

"You're lucky I'm your girlfriend! Apologize to Tal, though, she looks like she was pretty offended by your rude comment!"

Unfortunately, she was right... Well, on the outside she looked offended, but I could feel that she was completely amused by this little exchange.

"Yes, I am _really _offended!"

"Yeah, right," I said, rolling my eyes.

She scoffed and slapped me on the arm, and then I tickled her in response, and she tackled me.

We ended up sprawled on the floor, laughing our heads off. The others watched us in silence for a few seconds, then completely cracked up.

We stayed on the floor, trying to regain our composures, when the bell rang and Ryan got up, saying it was the pizza. Diane decided to go with him, leaving us alone on the floor.

She was lying on top of me. I could feel her heart beating through both of our T-shirts. She was so thin and light, her hands resting on my chest.

In a sudden impulse, I kissed her.

At first, her emotions were whizzing around, surprise, happiness, pleasure, desire, shock. She stayed rigid under my lips, but then, she started kissing me back. She was an awesome kisser.

I mean, I'd already kissed a few girls before, but this, _this _was amazing.

After a moment, we broke the kiss, too out of breath to say anything. Instead, we just smiled and stood up.

When the others came back, we were sitting on the couch, _very _close to each other, my right leg and her left touching, and we were holding hands. We were also more or less staring at each other.

Diane chuckled, and when we looked at her, she said,

"I knew it. I knew it the moment you showed up. I told you so, Tally!"

At that comment, Tal blushed. I remembered when the girls had gone to the bathroom right before leaving the bar. Tal had come back looking all flustered. I hadn't thought much about it, but now I understood that that must have been what they'd talked about.

Ryan just nodded.

I remembered the look he'd given her back at the beach.

It all made sense now.

As we were eating the pizzas, I asked,

"So, how long have you guys known each other?"

Ryan answered,

"Well, we've all grown up together, since we were about 5. We met at school. Tally's and my parents were friends, so we already knew each other, and then we rescued Diane from the school bullies, so then we were pretty much inseparable. Then, when we were about 14, Diane and I found out that we had feelings for each other, and we've been dating more or less all along since then."

"Cool... Wait, more or less? What's that supposed to mean?"

Diane answered for Ry by saying,

"Well, we had a couple of fights and broke up, but we could never stay separated for long."

"And you, Tally, have you had any boyfriends?" I asked her.

I could feel embarrassment coming off of her.

"Um... two, actually, but they were big jerks whom Diane set me up with."

She sent a dark look towards her friend.

"Hey, in my defense, I didn't know they were jerks! I apologize, OK?" Diane said.

"It's fine, it was a long time ago," Tally answered dismissively, but I could feel her uneasiness on the subjects, and I couldn't help but feel like there was something bad that had happened with those boys. I made a mental note to ask her about it later.

We finished the pizza, talking about school and such (school being almost non-existent for me, of course) and then Diane and Tally got ready to leave.

"Oh, we forgot all about the movie!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Whatever, I'm too tired, and it's too late anyways," I said, though, somehow, they all heard the unfinished sentence: _Besides, I didn't want to watch The Notebook._

Diane and Ryan kissed goodbye, and I gave Tally a quick kiss, winking at her, and then they left.

We got to bed quickly. I was seriously exhausted.

Once we'd said good night and the lights were off, I wondered at how we'd all clicked together so quickly.

It felt like they'd known each other since they were kids. Though that wasn't possible.

Anyways, I sent the thought quickly away. I wanted to sleep, and the fact that I'd found good friends and a possible girlfriend had made me so happy that I'd _almost_ forgotten about the Flock.

For a second, I wondered how they were doing, then told myself it didn't matter, and fell asleep.

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**OK, so this was Ch.2.**

**I'm leaving for a couple of days, so I thought I'd give you a very long chapter.**

**I've decided to make this a big story, though it won;t be very long.**

**So, expect another chapter soon! Or, as soon as I can. It _will _be sooner if I get reviews though!**

**-K  
**


	3. Waking Up for School is Hard to Do

**Ok... Disclaimer: *sneeze* Sorry, I'm allergic to those.**

**Major thanks to: aLiSOn395, supernerdy, NotGivingMyName (I don't blame you ^^), Iggy4ever, KingOfOwls, and Tessa (Love ya Zoey!) for reviewing.**

**Iggy4ever and KingOfOwls for faving.**

**THANK YOU ALL I LOVE YA! YOU ARE _NOT _THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!! ^^**

**Ok, Ch.3... Hope you like it!**

**-K  
**

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**Waking Up for School is Hard to Do  


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I woke up to the most annoying of sounds.

It was a loud **BEEP** that was ringing repeatedly, shaking me from my blissful unconsciousness.

I opened my eyes and sought out the source of the horrible noise, still half-asleep, not seeing where I was going. My subconscious had taken over.

Of course, I was barely conscious of my surroundings, so when a voice called my name, I jumped about a foot in the air.

"Iggy, why the _hell_ do you have a hammer in your hand?"

I suddenly realized that, indeed, I had a rather heavy hammer in my right hand, and it was held ready to strike. I followed the aim with my eyes and realized that it was a small black box with red numbers. In other words, the bane of my existence. Yep, you guessed it! The source of the _abominable_ noise.

"Sorry Ry! I wasn't really awake. Animal instincts took over. What the _hell_ is that? It's freaking annoying!" I managed to say after a slightly awkward pause.

It had taken me a full minute to remember why I was in a basement and who that guy - Ryan - was.

Ryan looked at me for a second, and then burst out laughing. I could feel waves of amusement and surprise coming off of him.

I crossed my arms and waited for him to regain his composure.

After another minute, he understood that it was _not_ the time to joke around with me and said,

"Sorry, man. You were just hilarious! You should have seen your face. I wish I'd taken a picture, the girls would've been laughing for _weeks!_"

He chuckled again, and when he saw that I wasn't gonna let it go, he added,

"That's an alarm, you idiot. I know you lived on the run, but you _must_ know what an alarm clock is, right?"

"Um... Yeah. Sorry. It didn't click. Weird. Anyways, why'd you set it at 8 A.M.?" I answered, embarrassed at my reaction.

"Well, today's Monday, so the girls and I have school. Hey! I have an idea! You're going to stay around for a while, right? Why don't you come to school with us! It'd be awesome!" he said, obvious excitement leaking from his voice and emotions.

I thought about it for a minute, and then said,

"Sure. But I'm gonna need clothes. I can't show up at school in beach shorts two sizes too big."

"Yeah. I'll call the girls, telling them to wait for us at school. Let's go, we'll eat on the way."

* * *

An hour and a half later, I had clothes my size, a brand new cellphone, and a backpack that deserved its name, unlike my other one. I also had a couple of notebooks and a pen and pencil, and other necessities for school.

"What grade are you guys in?" I asked Ryan as we walked towards the enormous building.

"11th. We have to go to the office to sign you in, first. Hurry or we'll be late. The girls probably already went inside."

We got to the office, signed me in, and the secretary, who was evidently bored, and I didn't need to be able to read emotions to know that, gave me a map of the school and a schedule.

"Let me see it. The girls and I have most classes together. Maybe you will too."

He looked at it and after a second said,

"You won't be alone in any. You have 3 classes out of 8 with only Tally, 2 with me, one with Diane, and 2 with the three of us. Lucky. Come on, we have the same homeroom."

We got in a classroom that was almost full, except for 2 seats in the back, saved by none other than, you guessed it, Tally and Diane.

Ryan walked over to the girls, and I followed him. He embraced Diane and kissed her, and I just kissed Tally lightly on the mouth, then said hi to Diane, and Ryan hugged Tally.

I sat down next to Tally and finally noticed that everyone was staring at me and whispering things like,

_"Who the hell is that guy?" _and _"Did you know that Tally had a boyfriend?"_

I chuckled and Tally laughed along.

Homeroom and the rest of the day went by quickly. The only problem was when I was going to the cafeteria, having just left Ryan who went to Diane's locker and found a group of three guys cornering a girl I'd seen in one of my classes.

I stopped walking and listened to what they were saying.

"Come on, Julia, just one date, and then we'll be even! It's not much, compared to what you did to me!" the one in the middle said. Apparently, he was the leader or something.

"What _I _did?" Julia scoffed. "More like what _you _tried to do, Jake! It's not my fault you were trying to rape a girl and I happened to see you doing it!"

"Whoa, wait a sec. I wasn't trying to rape her, we were just having some fun. You had _no _right to tell the police. Besides, she didn't press charges."

"Yeah, she didn't press charges 'cause she's in a freaking _coma!"_ Julia replied. I could feel anger and repulsion, along with fear coming from her.

"Yeah, well, that's not my fault. Come on, honey, one date. Then we'll be even and I'll leave you alone for good."

"I'm not gonna go on a date with you because you'll try to rape me like you tried to rape about half the girl population of this school."

"Stop saying that!" he said, starting to get really angry. He moved closer to her and shoved her hard into the lockers, then pressed himself to her and tried to kiss her.

By then, I was right behind him and pulling him off of her.

"I don't think so, Jake. If Julia here doesn't want your services, I think you should just leave her alone."

I was holding him up with one arm. Jake and his buddies, along with Julia, were staring at me wide-eyed. Not surprising, since he weighed more than twice my weight and it wasn't even hard to hold him up like that. Jake was a very big boy, with muscles in his arms that could be compared to a boxer's. And _my _arms didn't have muscles like his.

Of course, that doesn't mean anything. I mean, I'm a bird kid, so of course, I was much, _much _stronger than this guy. Especially after years of being on the run and fighting Erasers, Flyboys, and M-Geeks. Seriously, this little boy was not even a minor threat to me.

I could feel fear coming off of the three boys.

I smiled and said,

"Leave her alone, along with all the other girls, or being lifted off your feet is _not _the only thing that will happen to you. Got that?"

He nodded, and when I let him go, he and his buds ran away.

"Are you ok, Julia? I should've interrupted sooner."

"No, that's fine! You're... Iggy, right? The new guy?" she answered. All the previous emotions had disappeared, and now I knew she was happy, awed, and curious.

"Yeah, that's me. Do you have anyone to eat with?"

"No... My best friend, Tania, she's the one in a coma. God, I _hate _Jake. I wish I had proof of what he did, then he'd be in jail by now!" she finished strongly, the hate coming off strongly from her.

"Whoa, relax, we'll find a way, I'll help you, ok? For now, we can't do anything, so come eat with me and my friends."

"OK."

We walked into the cafeteria, and I found Tally's table easily. When we got there, Tally looked at Julia curiously and I explained what had happened. She nodded and pointed to the space next to her.

I smiled and sat down where she'd pointed, and Julia sat in front of us, next to Diane and Ryan.

I kissed Tally, and then looked at the food and said,

"You're telling you guys _eat _that stuff? Even _I, _and believe me, I'm _not _squeamish when it comes to food, find this disgusting. I don't think it's even edible. Is there a fast food close to this jail?"

They all laughed at that and Ryan said,

"Unfortunately, we're not allowed to leave campus unless we're in 12th grade, which we're not. So, you'll have to eat this inedible stuff or starve to death."

"Well... You know what? I'll be back in about 10 minutes. Give me your credit card, Ry. I'll come back with food for everyone!" I winked, and Ryan gave me a strange look, but gave the card to me anyways.

I found a deserted place on campus and flew to the nearest fast food I could find: McDonald's.

_Yes!!_

I loved McDonald's, it was awesome. I landed behind the restaurant and folded my wings.

When I came out, I had enough food for 4 humans and a bird kid. It was about enough food for 7-8 humans.

I flew back to the school and landed in yet another deserted place before finding my way back to the cafeteria.

When I came in, nobody payed me attention except my friends.

The girls were wide-eyed, and Ryan was laughing his head off.

"What?" I asked, grinning.

Tally and Diane shook their heads as if to clear their thoughts, and then laughed along with Ryan.

Julia just looked confused.

"How'd you do it? I mean, McDonald's is about 20 minutes away by foot! Unless you have a car, but you wouldn't have been allowed to get it out of the parking lot... How?" she asked me, all confusion gone. She was using her no-nonsense tone, one which I recognized from having lived with Max for so long.

I looked at the others, who were eating. They all shrugged, as if to say, 'It's your secret, your decision'.

I decided to tell her.

"Ok, Julia. Do you remember the Coalition to Stop the Madness?"

"Yeah. Tania is in love with Fang, so I was forced to watch all the air shows. To tell you the truth, I liked Iggy better -" she said with a chuckle, then stopped in the middle of her phrase, blushing as she realized who I must be.

"Oh. My. God. You're Iggy. _The _Iggy. Of course! I saw your picture just yesterday on the paper! How could I have been so stupid!"

I smiled and said,

"It's ok! It took them a while to understand too."

She laughed, and then we both started eating.

I noticed Tally wasn't having as much fun since Julia'd discovered the truth, but I shrugged it off, thinking it was just a bit of wariness.

The rest of the day went by in a flash. I discovered that I had other classes with Julia.

Oh, right, I forgot. Julia had short, dark brown hair and eyes the same color. She was as hot as the other girls. On the matter of curves, she was in between Diane and Tally, but she had an attitude that made her seem sexier than both of them.

Throughout the day, we talked about things very similar to what I'd talked about with the others on the beach the previous day. I also found out that Julia and I had a lot in common.

At the end of the day, my last class was with Ryan and Julia, and we were let out early.

Ryan went to wait for the girls at the other end of the school while I accompanied Julia to her car.

Once we got to her car, she turned around and kissed me. I was so surprised that I didn't move at all. Then, I unfroze a bit and kissed her back. I didn't know why, but it felt really good.

Suddenly, I came back to my senses and pushed her away.

She looked at me, and said,

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me."

I just looked at her, and then turned around and walked away quickly. I heard her sigh and open her car.

I found the others waiting for me at the entrance, laughing at a joke Diane had made.

Tally looked at me, and said,

"What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost!" then laughed again.

"Nothing," I said with a weak smile.

I could tell she wasn't satisfied with that answer, but she let it go.

I had some serious thinking to do: What the _hell _was wrong with me? I loved Tally, and yet, I'd felt something with Julia. It was _so _weird.

One thing I _did _know for sure: I wasn't gonna sleep very well that night.

* * *

**Ok, hope you all liked it! Did you like Julia? I'm actually proud of her...**

**Anyways, my faithful readers know the drill: REVIEW.**

**To all my non-faithful readers who _don't _know the drill, it's easy: REVIEW.**

**I don't know how long it's gonna be, just so you all know. As one of my reviewers smartly observed, I don't know. I just go with the flow.**

**One thing I _do _know is that Ch.4 will come much, _much _faster if I'm on a review high. I guess this explains that! **

**The Flock will probably show up in Ch.5... or 4, I don't know, seriously I don't. It'll depend on what my little finger tells me to do. Yes, I'm my finger's slave. If he's not happy 'cause he wasn't petted enough, thing I only do when I get reviews, he doesn't let me write. So, REVIEW!!!!!**

**-K **


	4. How to be a Zombie

**So, I promised you a chapter, so here it is. Forget the disclaimer, I think I've made it pretty clear that my name is NOT James Patterson. Got that? If you don't, just read my other chapters.**

**So, people who hate Julia, you're gonna love the end!! ^^**

**Ok, enjoy!**

**-K**

So... Remember when I said I wouldn't sleep well? Turns out I'm psychic!

No, I'm not. I just knew that the thought of Julia kissing me, and me actually kissing her _back, and _liking it would keep me up all night.

So when in the morning, the alarm rang again, I'd only slept for about 10 minutes.

I was a zombie throughout the entire first part of the day. Whenever anyone talked to me - _especially_ Tally or Julia - I just... zoned out.

Then, at lunch, I didn't eat anything. Not that if it had been any other day I would've eaten the cafeteria food or anything...

In math, right after lunch, Ryan kept trying to get my attention. I wasn't responding at all. But this time, it wasn't like I wasn't hearing him because I needed to sleep, or think, or whatever... I could _hear _him, and _see _him, and I _wanted _to answer, but I couldn't make my mouth move.

When the bell rang, I got up, but I was on automatic. I just moved to my next class, aware of everything that was going on around me, but not able to take part of it.

I won't lie to you: I was _really _starting to freak out.

My next class was Biology, and I had that with Diane and Julia.

Diane was still in her other class, and Ryan had gone to accompany her to this class, and Julia was waiting outside the classroom.

She sent me a seductive smile, and as much as I tried to avoid her and not respond in any way like for the others, I was forced to come close to her and... Well, I kissed her. I didn't want to, but it was like I was _compelled_ to do it.

When I finally managed to pull off of her, everyone was gawking and Julia was smiling triumphantly.

Then, from behind, I heard a heart-wrenching sob.

I managed to turn around just in time to see Tally turn around and run, tears flowing freely.

Then, I tried to run after her, but it was like I was held by an invisible chain, and that chain was pulling me back to Julia.

Since I'm a fighter, I fought with all my will, trying to free myself of her spell, or _whatever _was that she was doing, and then it was too much.

My brain shut off and I crumpled to the ground.

* * *

When I woke up, I was in the infirmary and Julia was at my side, holding my hand.

As quickly as I could, I wrenched my hand from her grip and ran out of the infirmary.

The school was deserted.

I looked at one of the clocks and saw that it was 5 o'clock. The entire school had left a _long _time ago.

Suddenly, I heard Julia call for me, and I tried to run toward the exit, but once again, the string was attached and holding me captive.

I managed to turn around when she was right behind me.

First, she kissed me for a long time, and I _really _tried, but I couldn't stop myself from kissing her back.

Then, she pulled away and smiled.

It wasn't the sweet smile she'd shown me the first time we'd met, or the seductive smile from earlier in the day, nor was it the triumphant one she'd worn when Tally had seen us - _Oh, God... Tally!_

It was an evil smile. The type of smile the whitecoats wore when I was nine and they'd taken me to the lab to do an experiment on my eyes.

The smile made my skin crawl.

She took out a syringe filled with a blue liquid.

"I'm sorry, Iggy. I really like you and all, but I was given a very specific job. You know when your sight was taken away? It wasn't a permanent thing. It was just a liquid injected in your body that disabled your ablility to see. When you got your sight back, it's because the liquid wore off. I was sent to inject it in you again. We just can't let you have your sight. Otherwise, you wouldn't be a liability to the Flock, they'd like you, and it would be harder for us to pursue you and hurt you and all. Sorry!" Julia said.

My eyes widened in horror as she brought the syringe to my wrist. The worst part was that I couldn't fight back. As much as I tried, I just _couldn't._

"Oh, don't try fighting, you idiot. You know the chip that Maximum had in her? You _all _have it. It enables us to control you, as well as track you down. You can't fight me as long as I'm awake," she told me.

And as she was about to inject the liquid, a voice behind her said,

"Then I guess you'd better fall asleep, eh?"

And then she crumpled to the floor after having been kicked in the head.

* * *

**I don't have time to thank everyone for faving and reviewing and adding to updates, so I'll just do a massive THANK YOU.**

**Ok, I'm leaving tomorrow for a week, so this is my last chapter till I come back from my week of fun... Er, I mean, non-technological fun. **

**Buh-bye now!**

**-K**

* * *


	5. I'm not gay

**Hey guys! I'm back, and I'm alive and kicking!!! **

**Or rather, writing! Why? 'Cause I _finally _got my computer back! That means updates, updates and updates!**

**So, Julia haters, and Tally lovers, I think you're pretty happy, right?**

**Anyways, I just wanted to say that I got the name Tally from Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series. Read it, it's an awesome series, and Scott's an awesome author!**

**The disclaimer doesn't need to be done, right? I think you all know I'm not Jimmy P. (I'm giving credit to St. Fang of Boredom for that nickname!!)**

**I'm leaving you to read Iggy's story with only one thing: PANZERCRAPPITASTICA BONECHOMPER!!!!! (really, don't ask... Wait, just read the Uglies series, then Bogus to Bubbly and you'll get it...)**

**-K

* * *

**

I watched silently as Julia fell to the ground, unconscious.

At first, I didn't understand what had happened.

After a few seconds, though, I started to understand.

Slowly, I looked up to see the Gasman smirking at me.

I swear, I did a double-take. Had that just happened? It _couldn't _be real! The Flock had clearly forgotten all about me long before I'd left...

So, why had Gazzy come to save me?

He continued grinning for a few seconds, and then stopped as he realized what I must've been thinking. I'm not sure, but it probably showed on my face. Probably in big letters... My WTH face. I make a very good one, might I add.

"Sorry it took me so long to track you down, man," he said. He smiled tentatively, unsure of how I would react.

Instead of answering, I looked at him steadily. I looked straight into his eyes, and he stared right back, unflinching at first. Then, unable to keep it up, he looked away guiltily.

Yeah, he had a lot to feel guilty about.

"So, you suddenly decided I was worth your attention again? Or did your conscience keep you up at night?" I asked him, letting all the hurt and anger show in my voice. I was past trying to make nice with them.

He looked back at me and said steadily,

"I know there's no excuse for how we treated you. I can't even _explain _what happened those last few months. All I know is that I'm really sorry, and I'll do anything, _anything _to make it up to you. I know you might never forgive me, and I sure as hell know that it'll never be the same between us, but I would really like it if we could give it a try."

I stared at him speechlessly for a minute, unsure how to answer.

"I don't know what happened to the rest of the Flock, in case you wanna know. When you left, I wanted to follow you, but Max wouldn't let me leave. In the end, I had to wait more than a week until I managed to sneak away while they were all sleeping. It was real hard, trying to keep myself from thinking of you while not making any noise. Man, Total has really sharp ears. I almost got caught. Luckily, Akila dragged him back down. Hah. Anyways, I tracked you down. Lucky you, otherwise you'd be blind again. Bitch," he added, shooting Julia's unconscious form a murderous glare. "I can't believe we have chips in us that allow them to control us! It sucks _majorly._"

"Yeah," I agreed. "Thanks, by the way. For coming."

He looked honestly surprised for a minute, and then he smiled. He stepped tentatively forward.

I stepped towards him too, and closed the space between us.

It felt good to hug my best friend again. I'd honestly missed him.

However, we separated quickly. I mean, he was like a brother to me, but we were still guys. None of those mushy-gushy feelings for us. Nuh-uh.

He seemed to feel the same way, thankfully.

We tied Julia up, and gagged her, and left her in a corner of the hallway.

"Okay, we need someplace to sleep," Gazzy said.

"Yeah. I crash in my friend's basement. Wanna come? You'll see, he's really awesome, and the girls are too, especially Tally —"

I froze in my tracks.

_Tally! _I'd completely forgotten about it, but she'd seen me with Julia. How was I gonna explain?!

Gazzy, who'd been walking beside me, stopped a few meters ahead of me, realizing too late that I'd stopped.

"Hey, man. You okay? Something wrong?" he inquired, seeking an answer for my sudden silence.

I looked at him apologetically before saying,

"Yeah, but I need to talk to Tally. Let's go to Ryan's, maybe she's there. If she isn't, I'll leave you there. Come on, up and away, I've gotta hurry."

"Um... Sure," Gazzy replied as we started running.

I jumped and snapped my wings open, followed by Gazzy, and we flew at maximum speed towards Ryan's house.

* * *

**So? **

**Sorry it's short. I had a longer chapter, but I felt the need to stop there...**

**I'll update soon, so PLEASE REVIEW!!!**

**-K  
**


	6. Tis hard to explain

**Ok… Hello, everyone. I am REALLY sorry I haven't updated in so long… I was just focused on my non-fanfiction, Angel of Magic, which you can check out on my account of FictionPress. com.**

**Also, I have been busy with school. I have SO much hw!! I mean, let me tell you, 10****th**** grade is NOT a piece of cake. And, also, I had the PSATs a couple weeks ago (HARD!). **

**But it is FINALLY the holidays (say thank you to the French holiday system. Oh yeah! Every 6 or 7 weeks, 2 weeks of hols! I think… .), so there will be updates. **

**I'm also writing a random short story, because of this group on Goodreads, where you enter a weekly contest and write a short story about the week's subject. This week's (and last week's… yeah, nobody's writing. –shrugs-) is Conflict, which started me into a random story about a seer. You know, like a mediator (someone who can see ghosts), but… not. ^^**

**Apart from that, there's… NaNoWriMo, starting in November. It's gonna be awesome. I already have a title for my novel: The Mind Machine! :D Guys, check this out on the NaNoWriMo website if you like writing, and add me as a buddy if you do this, I'm Kiliro there. So, go there: nanowrimo. org.**

**BUT! I just realized that I actually have 37 reviews, thanks to you lovely people! So, continue reviewing! Ya know I love 'em!**

**And now, I'll leave you to Iggy and Panzercrappitastica Bonechomper. Oops! I meant Tally. ^^ (don't ask).**

**

* * *

'Tis hard to explain**

* * *

We flew through the night, going as fast as we possibly could. In a few minutes, we were at Ryan's house.

I knocked urgently on his basement door, and a few seconds later, he opened the door.

He hated me. I knew that from just one look. A furious look, I might add.

He stepped out and closed the door behind him.

"What do you want? You should've guessed you're not welcome anymore," he said roughly.

My eyes widened. "Ryan, you don't understand. You have to let me explain…" I said pleadingly.

"What's there to explain? We were your friends, Tally opened her heart to you, and you broke it. You _broke _it, all right? It's too late. There's nothing you can say to-" he was cut off by Gazzy.

"What the hell's up with you, man? Let him talk, all right? He has something to say, let him say it."

Ryan's eyes widened. "You're… Wait, you _can't _be. I thought…"

"You thought they'd all abandoned me. They had. But against their will. They were forced to, just like I was forced to do what Julia wanted me to do," I said.

Ryan looked at me suspiciously. "How?"

"A chip. One they put when we were kids. Can't be removed. Enables Itex to control us, as well as to track us down. Julia was an Itex agent, sent to make me blind again. She decided to have a little fun before accomplishing her mission."

"Blind again?" he asked uncomprehendingly.

"The blindness wasn't induced by a false maneuver during surgery. It was done on purpose, caused by the injection of a fluid, created just for me. They wanted me to be a liability to the flock, and I was. And my theory is that they knew the blindness was being taken down slowly, and so they made the Flock hate me, so I'd be easier to get to when they decided to make me blind again," I said.

"Where's Julia now?" he asked.

Gazzy smirked. "Taken care of. All bundled up and packaged, ready to be sent to Itexicon. That good enough for you?"

Ryan grinned. "Absolutely. So…" he turned back to me. "Julia forced you to kiss her?" he asked.

"Yeah, she did. Trust me, she was repulsing. I never want to approach her again," I said, making a disgusted face.

Ryan grinned again. "Let me go get Diane. I'll let you have a chance with Tally, k?"

I nodded. I watched him as he went back in, and came out a few seconds later with Diane in tow.

She stopped as soon as she spotted me. "What is _he _doing here?" she asked, her voice nasty.

Ryan laughed and said, "Go on in, Ig. I'll take care of her. Diane, meet the Gasman. He and I are going to explain a few things to you."

Their voices disappeared as soon as I came in and saw Tally on the couch, sobbing, tears streaming down her face.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw her so miserable. I gasped. "Tally," I said silently.

I rushed to her side. "Tally, I am so, _so _sorry. You've _got _to let me explain."

She did a double-take when she saw me, but she didn't tell me to go away or to shut up. I took that as a good sign.

I rushed in my explanation. I told her everything I'd told Ryan, emphasizing on the part that Julia disgusted me, and that I'd been forced to kiss her.

Tally remained silent all the time I talked. When I finished my monologue, she stared at me unflinchingly and stayed that way for a few minutes.

Then, her voice wavering, she said, "Iggy… I- I can't do this. I just… can't bear it that people try to hurt you, and that it's possible that one day you'll have to leave. Or die, because of the expiration date, or Itex. I just wouldn't be able to handle it if another Julia came, and this time, Gazzy wasn't there to stop her. I love you, and I always will, believe me. But I can't do this."

* * *

**Hel**_**lo **_**cliffies! **

**Hope everyone liked it! I'll update soon, because I know I'm being mean by ending the chapter this way.**

**So, remember, REVIEW!! Click on the little button down there! I don't care if it's just, "Like!" or "Hate!", I just want it so that, tomorrow morning, when I wake up and check my mail, I have the pleasant surprise to see a certain number of emails from FF .net saying that such and such left me a review.**

**Bye, now! :D**

**-Kiliro **


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